Everywhere you look, you find people complaining about things that change; Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Applications, and so forth, but rarely do they ever do anything about it. In fact, in most cases (with the exception of Digg), time spent on them increases.

Every time Facebook changes its layout, everyone and their grandmas throw a tantrum, complaining about how they want the old layout back. A week goes by, and it's as if nothing happened at all. They're still using Facebook with all of the same features, if not more. After all, Facebook spends millions creating the optimal interface (at least I hope they do) for an increase of addictiveness.

A few months ago, Twitter drastically underwent a major interface overhaul. As per usual, a ton of people complained saying it was too complicated, slow, etc. Well, has Twitter reported a loss of user activity? Nope. An increase of user activity? Yep...

My point here is this; I think most people secretly, subconsciously love change. Our extroverted personalities show that we are so protective of things, especially when we've developed comfort with them. When this comfort is stripped from us, we get scared and start complaining, but we also become adventurous at the same time! We start learning new things, discovering features, and finding reasons to like something.

We, as humans, are born to be naturally curious creatures. We also happened to be pretty damn good at learning and adapting to change. One can argue on the contrary, but that would then get into many unrelated aspects of why people fear change. Habituation of a linear and non-changing lifestyle is one of them (I know this because my family is so).

So, to softly reiterate my point, I stand by the ground that, because our nature is to learn and adapt (primitively, for survival), we subconsciously like change, even in the little things in life (like Facebook!). This is not an argument against people complaining and demanding what's right, but rather, an encouragement! We must honestly think about our emotions, why we feel the way we do, and how to progressively and positively advance.

4 Replies

Whenever I see the onslaught of negative feedback following upgrades on facebook, twitter et al, I chuckle to myself. I think of how most of the detractors would eventually get bored and find something else to do if nothing ever changed. People are fickle. It's why so many complain about the cold all winter, then the heat in the summer. If everyone just accepted things for the way they are, they'd be happy all the time. That is to say, unless things were actually bad. Which they're not the vast majority of the time.

Outside of the clichéd notion it is human nature, change is often a purported event without warning. Since we have not had the chance to come to terms with the change BEFORE the actual change takes place, we fight it. The here and now is comfortable if it is pleasant or bearable in the case of a bad situation. No matter how much we talk of the future and the changes it WILL bring, the here and now is the most desired aspect of the human life...simply because it means we are alive.

did it ever occure to you that user activity increases because people spend weeks trying to work how to use the system again. i'm not against change but at least with things like yahoo mail they give the option of wether you would prefer the new improved version or stay with the one you have! the reason facebook, twitter, etc get away with it is because so many people are linked to friends and family, many who live afar, through their sites so rather than lose this contact they accept any amount of unwanted change that is forced upon them. at least it would be good if they gave an option to try it and if you didnt like it then stay with what you have.

Benny, I don't think I agree with the notion that people have to get out of their way JUST to adapt and relearn everything (which isn't always the case). I mean, let's be honest here... Most of the changes that Facebook has ever done have been incrementally small, therefore never introducing functional changes/additions that were SO DIFFERENT that it required people to start from scratch. In fact, I think it's the opposite – people often grow so used to the changes (after all the complaining) that they realize the changes weren't so bad after all, maybe even useful/necessary.

Another fact is that Facebook also probably spends millions performing A/B tests to see user feedback. I don't think their decisions to make these changes are without merit.